I hope the title brought a little chuckle after you envisioned a middle aged man zig-zagging across the front yard chasing the bird who is supposed to be the main course at Thanksgiving dinner.

Before the bird was even cold and put away, there was an inkling this week might be the one we’ve been waiting for, presumably the last gasp at harvest and fieldwork activities in this area.

As I’ve been driving to basketball sites for the last two weeks now, I didn’t have to travel far to find crops left to harvest. Odd enough, it seems there were nearly as many soybeans left as corn. That is just the way it is when for the last six weeks it has been difficult to string together more than a couple dry days in a row. Growers are getting a good opportunity to complete harvest.

Monday morning, we found ourselves pulling equipment out of the storage shed and directing it to fields. The chisel plow was sent to work some fields where lime and gypsum was spread. Vertical tillage was deployed to other fields to help chew up cornstalks and speed the degradation process. The wheel loader and manure spreader were sent to yet other locations. We have even begun to haul more manure to be spread this week. Part time help may have worked some long days in this stretch, but after several slow weeks, I don’t hear any complaints about a last grab at Christmas time money.

By Monday afternoon, temperatures in the 50s enticed me to see if the sprayer would start. In a couple of days this week, I was able to attack the fields that normally turn green with winter annuals. Killing weeds this time of year can be difficult, so my preference is to include products that are specifically labeled to be applied until the ground is frozen. We’ve just had good success with that strategy.

As the week winds down, we are content with the activities we have been able to complete. We are down to the last few fields which are wetter, but it looks as though we will be able to get on those in a couple of days. Maybe we can get 2017 put ‘in the books.’

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Farm Progress.